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City of Edinburgh Council in £186m outsourcer swap

Consciously uncouples from BT, then hops straight into bed with CGI

City of Edinburgh Council has walked away from a 15-year outsourcing relationship with BT to jump into bed with CGI in a £186m long-term IT outsourcing agreement.

It seems Edinburgh can't kick its mega deal habit, with the seven-year CGI contract containing a five-year extension, and further extension options after that.

The council said the deal will shave off £45m from the current budget of £231m over the same period.

It promises to improve bandwidth speeds in schools ad take on the council's ERP system.

The council reckons it will also save cash by moving more folk on to online services. Edinburgh is tasked with having to reduce its costs by at least £107m over the next five years.

Councillor Alasdair Rankin, convener of the City of Edinburgh Council's Finance and Resources Committee, said: "The Council is delighted to be entering into partnership with CGI. In signing this contract we will transform the way we do business."

In 2001, the council appointed BT as their contractor for outsourced ICT services. This was originally contracted for a period of 10 years, and was subsequently extended in 2006 for an additional 5 years, which ends in 31 March 2016. ®